Arsenal have received no bid for Robin van Persie says Arsene Wenger

Arsène Wenger reacted angrily to questions about Robin van Persie’s Arsenal
future following a 2-0 friendly defeat against Manchester City in Beijing by
claiming the club has received no offers for their transfer-seeking captain.

No offers: the Robin van Persie issue rears it's head again in BeijingPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Van Persie, absent from Arsenal’s tour of the Far East after being left behind in London to work in his fitness following his revelation that he will not extend his contract at the Emirates, is being pursed by City, Manchester United and Juventus.

And speaking in Cape Town last Friday, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson appeared to blame Arsenal for revealing his interest in the Dutch forward, saying, ‘Obviously Arsenal have given out the fact that we've made a bid for him (Van Persie).’ There are other clubs interested in the player.”

But after seeing his team lose to City in a rain-soaked Bird’s Nest Stadium, Wenger hit out at reporters for asking about the status of interest in Van Persie, before insisting that no bids have been lodged for the 28-year-old.

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“We will not come back forever on Van Persie, We have many strikers at home. Van Persie is one of them, but we also have (Lukas) Podolski and (Olivier) Giroud.

“For now, we must prepare for the season and it is about more than one player.”

When asked to clarify the Van Persie situation after well-informed sources had claimed last week that City, United and Juventus had all lodged bids for the forward, the usually calm Wenger snapped back in response.

“We have talked about Van Persie.” Wenger said. “We have just played a football game tonight, there are four English people here and there have been four questions about Van Persie.

“I have talked about that, I am not talking about that question anymore. Do you understand?

“If you understand and respect what I said, then why do you ask me again?”

Although City are understood to have lodged a bid in the region of £15m for Van Persie, manager Roberto Mancini added to the confusion surrounding the player’s future by claiming that Wenger was correct in his claim about no offer being received from City.

“No, I don’t think (we have made an offer.)” Mancini said. “I think it is like this.

“If Wenger said this, I think it is true. Van Persie is one of the best strikers in the world, so it is difficult to buy him.”

Van Persie’s situation is likely to become clearer when Arsenal, who complete their tour with a game against Kitchee in Hong Kong on Sunday, return to London next week.

But it is understood that, while Mancini is determined to sign the player, a superior financial offer from Juventus and the lure of playing for

Ferguson at United are currently the two proposals that appeal most to Van Persie.

Wenger, meanwhile, denied that he is about to conclude a deal for Real Madrid’s Turkish midfielder Nuri Sahin.

He said: “We haven’t signed anybody. This report is wrong. We are not signing anybody at the moment and we are not close.”

Mancini, who saw goals from Pablo Zabaleta and Yaya Toure secure success in the inaugural Winoly Cup, admitted his surprise at the French Football

Federation’s decision to suspend Samir Nasri for three games following an expletive-laden rant at a journalist at Euro 2012.

Nasri, absent from City’s tour after being given an extended break following the tournament, is now unlikely to figure for France until November at the earliest.

Mancini said: “For us it might be better (that he doesn’t play), but I am very sorry for Samir.

“He is a good guy and a good player for the national team, but if they have taken this decision, I don’t know why.”